# Craigslist Scraper (`nexgendata/craigslist-scraper`) Actor Extract Craigslist listings across all categories and cities. Get prices, descriptions, locations, and contact info for market research. - **URL**: https://apify.com/nexgendata/craigslist-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [Stephan Corbeil](https://apify.com/nexgendata) (community) - **Categories:** Other, Real estate - **Stats:** 2 total users, 2 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, NaN bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## Craigslist Scraper by nexgendata Scrape Craigslist listings for apartments, jobs, items for sale, services, and gigs in any city. This actor searches Craigslist's classified listings and extracts titles, prices, posting dates, locations, and direct URLs. Built for real estate researchers, job market analysts, and anyone who needs structured data from the largest classified advertising platform in the United States. Craigslist operates in over 700 cities across 70 countries, handling an estimated 80 million classified ads per month in the US alone. Despite its deliberately minimal interface, Craigslist remains the dominant platform for apartment rentals, local services, used goods, and gig work in most American cities. The platform's lack of a public API and its resistance to data aggregation make programmatic access challenging. This actor solves that problem by extracting listing data from search results pages and delivering it as structured JSON. ### How It Works Specify a city (using Craigslist's city codes like "newyork", "sfbay", "losangeles", "chicago") and a category (apartments, jobs, for_sale, services, gigs, community, or housing). Optionally add a keyword query to filter results. The actor searches the specified Craigslist section and extracts listing data including the title, asking price, posting date, neighborhood location, and a direct link to the full listing. Pagination is handled automatically — the actor will fetch multiple pages of results up to your specified maximum. Category options cover the major Craigslist sections. Apartments (apa) returns rental listings. Jobs (jjj) covers all employment postings. For sale (sss) includes everything from furniture to electronics to vehicles. Services (bbb) lists local service providers. Gigs (ggg) captures short-term and freelance opportunities. Each listing includes the metadata that Craigslist displays on its search results pages. ### Who Uses This Real estate analysts and property managers monitor Craigslist rental listings to track asking rents across neighborhoods and cities. When a property management company needs to price a new listing, Craigslist data provides the most current snapshot of what comparable units are asking in the same area. Researchers studying housing affordability use Craigslist rental data as a leading indicator of market conditions, since landlords adjust asking rents in real time based on demand. Economists and labor market researchers analyze Craigslist job postings to study local employment dynamics, wage trends, and industry composition. Unlike aggregated job boards, Craigslist captures small business hiring that often does not appear on LinkedIn or Indeed, providing a more complete picture of local labor markets, especially for service, trade, and gig economy roles. Used goods resellers and arbitrage businesses monitor for-sale listings to identify underpriced items. Local service businesses track competitor pricing and advertising patterns. Market researchers studying consumer behavior use Craigslist as a data source for understanding local commerce patterns, pricing expectations, and demand signals. ### Pricing This actor costs $3 per 1,000 results. Monitoring apartments in a single city (200 listings) costs $0.60. A weekly scan of job postings across 10 cities runs $3-5 depending on volume. Monthly housing market monitoring across 50 metro areas costs approximately $30-50. Craigslist has no official API and explicitly limits automated access, making proxy-based scraping the only reliable method for collecting this data at scale. # Actor input Schema ## `city` (type: `string`): Craigslist city code (e.g. newyork, sfbay, losangeles, chicago, seattle, boston, denver). ## `category` (type: `string`): Listing category: apartments, jobs, for_sale, services, gigs, community, or housing. ## `query` (type: `string`): Optional keyword to filter listings. Leave empty to browse all listings in the category. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of listings to return (1-100). ## Actor input object example ```json { "city": "newyork", "category": "for_sale", "maxResults": 20 } ```` # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "city": "newyork" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("nexgendata/craigslist-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "city": "newyork" } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("nexgendata/craigslist-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "city": "newyork" }' | apify call nexgendata/craigslist-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=nexgendata/craigslist-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Craigslist Scraper", "description": "Extract Craigslist listings across all categories and cities. Get prices, descriptions, locations, and contact info for market research.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "nkeS9WsmsIgYjfe3L" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/nexgendata~craigslist-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-nexgendata-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/nexgendata~craigslist-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-nexgendata-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/nexgendata~craigslist-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-nexgendata-craigslist-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "required": [ "city" ], "properties": { "city": { "title": "City", "type": "string", "description": "Craigslist city code (e.g. newyork, sfbay, losangeles, chicago, seattle, boston, denver)." }, "category": { "title": "Category", "enum": [ "apartments", "jobs", "for_sale", "services", "gigs", "community", "housing" ], "type": "string", "description": "Listing category: apartments, jobs, for_sale, services, gigs, community, or housing.", "default": "for_sale" }, "query": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Optional keyword to filter listings. Leave empty to browse all listings in the category." }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of listings to return (1-100).", "default": 20 } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```